You get the death sentence for VAT fraud in China. Quite right too. Far too much of it going on.


Britain seems happy enough to let foreign nationals into its country without vetting that end up in its prisons. I can't see why it the country should mind banging all murderers up for life. I'd go further myself; once someone has been convicted of car thief, shop lifting, drug dealing, assault, robbing houses or any mix of those type of crimes five times I'd like to see an automatic sentence of 15 years. Release an option on parole after 6 years and then reviewed every second year. Parole should be a three year period. Foreign nationals convicted of any of those crimes I'd like to see deported after a first offense.

I'd also make Weed legal, sold in coffee shops to over 21s.

Prisons should also offer a wide range of training in trades and skills.

An ex-colleague of mine use to spend a lot of time Shaghai before China really opened up and he told me that an American tourist reported her purse stolen to the reception and by the time she woke the next day, the purse was returned and the thief had already been caught, tried and executed.

I am against the death penalty in all cases. One mistake on that is too many and it serves no purpose beyond what life imprisonment does as far as public safety is concerned.

People are always falling through the cracks too.  Getting convicted of something and then never serving a second of time.  It's a shambles.  I personally know of two people that have been driving while intoxicated and causing auto accidents that have resulted in serious damage - one accident caused the death of an innocent person, the other caused irreparable physical damage to an innocent passenger.  These accidents occurred years ago and neither guilty party has served a second of time.  They're eternally awaiting sentencing dates that will likely never come.  Legally speaking, they've walked free and clear.  Then you have some kid of 19 selling some pot sitting in jail for years.

FYI - I'm not close to the people mentioned above, I just know who they are.

Last edited by Worried Man (2013-07-27 16:54:11)

I don't really have an interest in law & order but (slightly related) I do think that more people should top themselves. I think assisted euthanasia where appropriate is also a jolly good thing too. All these things should be made as easy as possible for people for a safe, reliable dispatch.

The downside is that there would be bound to be murders by greedy relatives after an inheritance and people not wishing to lose half their property by getting divorced. Also there'd just be nutters who'd bump people off.  So maybe it would all have to be arranged as some sort of legal/medical process.

Bad men in prison especially should be allowed to top themselves with all the help we can give them as a society to see them gone. Bad ladies too. Make it an attractive choice for them by making prisons even more unpleasant than they already are.

I suspect that The Pope might not agree....

... It's beyond me why Stuart Hall didn't top himself at his age with the prospect of a grim time in prison ahead of him and a ruined life to follow. His choice entirely, but I wouldn't fancy being banged up as a nonce.

I suppose the idea is that keeping these people alive makes them suffer more in theory so there's that whole punishment aspect to the issue, but I'm not so sure that they do suffer all that much. They just settle down into a new way of life. There's also the thought that perverts might actually actively enjoy prison, happy in the company of their own kind...

You really do talk like a twat at times. I know someone who came from a pretty rough inner city area, got chucked out of school two weeks before easter and went on to become a soft drug dealer during which time he drifted in and out of dead end jobs. He then became a professional shop lifter earning a lot of money. He also had a flat payed for by housing benefit which he sub-let to others while living with his girlfriend. He lived like that from 18 to 24, he was arrested a number of times out of which he only ever faced charges two or three times. For which he was fined, due to his unemployment the fines were small and spread over very long periods of time in small amounts.
   He was arrested at Football (QPR away) where he was ordered to be bound over to keep the peace for one year. Following two more arrests at Football he found himself (with 16 others) facing two charges of Violent Disorder (section 2 of the riot act). A total sentence of two years was given of which he served 10 months after which he was released on parole. Since that time he has never been out of work and has moved out into the suburbs where he owns his own semi detached house.
   I also know someone else who lived a life of crime from the same area who was given a four year sentence for being in possession of a large amount of speed and hash with intent to supply. He is know very high up working for Rowntree Macintosh and lives in the Cotswolds married to a barrister.
  Prison is a horrible place but it would be wrong to think that everyone in them is horrible. What I would like to see is prisons offering much more in ways of skills and trades being taught. Losing freedom is a horrible punishment but not everyone upon release can manage to get out of the environment which first led to their leading a life of crime, of course its a deterrent but once the person is released back into the same environment they have to make money and live. If prison are to have a smaller return rate amongst its inmates they must start to offer more in skills that prisoners can offer society upon release, thus bringing them into mainstream society and not just throwing back into a sub culture of benefits and crime from which they can see no way out.

Franky Jim, if you were from a poor background you realise there are no kudos points to be earned. You'd also see that crime is a very easy life style to fall into and not so easy to get out of. I think the more serious money crimes with the top earners seem to get very small sentences in comparison. There is beyond any doubt a link between a judge seeing a poor person committing crime as a life style choice and a rich person as making a mistake. The size of the crime matters not.